Of Pancakes and Charming Breakfasts
by AnEclecticKat
Summary: In which pancakes are served for breakfast, Snow and Charming spoil their grandson, and Emma is less than pleased. Pure and utter fluff. Non-specific timeline. A missing moment with the Charmings.


_A/N: I've been having Charming family withdrawals, and when this little plot bunny came to me, I just couldn't shake it. ;) This is shameless fluff, and I take full ownership. ;) I originally pictured this taking place between The Cricket Game and The Miller's Daughter, but feel free to imagine this happening whenever you please. :) Read, review, and enjoy! :)_

* * *

Weekends were always Henry's favorite part of the week.

It was seldom quiet in the Charming household, and weekends were no exception.

This Saturday started as almost every Saturday did, with him waking up to the sounds of padding feet, clattering dishes, and murmuring voices. Henry sat up in bed, blearily rubbing the sleep from his eyes before slowly stumbling to the railing. As he looked down and saw his grandma bustling about making breakfast while Gramps sat at the table reading the paper, Henry couldn't help the goofy smile that made its way across his face. Sometimes he still couldn't believe that this was all real. Emma had broken the curse. He had a family now—he even had _grandparents_. Grandparents who just happened to be _Snow White_ and _Prince Charming_, which still struck Henry as being the coolest thing ever.

As Henry began to descend the metal staircase, Snow paused in the process of whisking eggs, smiling affectionately and beaming up at him.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

Henry grinned widely back at her, still in awe of the way that her voice always made him feel like he was being enveloped in a hug.

"Morning, Gran!"

At the sound of voices, David looked up to see his grandson at the bottom of the staircase, face immediately lighting up with a smile.

"Look who decided to join us! How'd you sleep, kid?"

Henry walked over to the breakfast table with a grin, plopping down in a chair next to his grandpa.

"Pretty good! How about you?"

With a small chuckle, David folded up the paper and placed it on the chair next to him, reaching out a hand to ruffle Henry's hair.

"Not bad kid, not bad."

Snow walked over to where the boys were sitting, running a hand over David's shoulders before placing a cup of coffee in front of him. David gave her a grateful smile while she planted a kiss on Henry's head, sitting in the chair next to him.

"Can I get you anything to eat, honey? I'm making David some eggs, but do you want something different? Cereal? Pancakes?"

Snow lowered her voice at the last suggestion, wiggling her eyebrows at Henry. Henry's eyes widened at the thought of his favorite breakfast food, beginning to nearly bounce in his seat in excitement.

"Oooo, pancakes? Yes, please!"

Snow winked at Henry, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face at his exuberant expression.

"Pancakes it is then."

As Snow walked back to the kitchen, Henry turned to look at his grandpa, who had sat up considerably in his chair and was looking towards the kitchen with a hopeful expression. Clearing his throat, he looked towards the counter where Snow was beginning to gather ingredients.

"Uh, Snow, you know…"

"Oh, no you don't Charming." Snow quickly interjected, giving David a playful glare as he stopped mid sentence, expression clouding with confusion.

"You asked for eggs, and eggs are what you shall receive. No pancakes for you." With a smirk and a wink in Henry's direction, Snow continued to gather the necessary ingredients, pulling out a mixing bowl and purposely ignoring the pouting looks David was sending her direction. Sighing in defeat, David turned to Henry with a sad expression.

"And here I thought she loved me."

Giggling, Henry leaned over to David, speaking in a whisper.

"I'll sneak you some of mine, Gramps."

Eyes twinkling in amusement, David smiled secretively, nudging Henry lightly with his shoulder.

"Thanks, kid."

At that moment, both Prince and grandson were distracted by a rustling from upstairs, as a bedraggled Emma stumbled to the railing and fumbled for the staircase, dragging her feet slowly down each step.

Winking at Henry, David turned to his half-awake daughter and gave her his most charming smile.

"Good morning, Emma."

Emma glared at him and grunted in greeting, pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail as she descended the last step and plopped unceremoniously down at the kitchen table.

"Hey, Mom!"

Henry chirped cheerfully, smiling widely where his mother was slumped next to him. Raising her head barely off of her arms, Emma gave Henry a weary smile through squinted eyes and ruffled his hair.

"Morning, kid."

Snow hurried to the table and placed a cup of coffee in front of Emma, smiling smugly at her as she gave a moan of appreciation and pulled the hot liquid closer to her.

"Thanks." Emma muttered, giving Snow a smile that was more of a grimace.

"You're welcome. And good morning to you too, sunshine!" Snow sang out, bustling back to the kitchen and turning around to smile mischievously at her daughter.

Raising the cup slowly to her lips, Emma drank greedily, humming in pleasure.

"How does she even do that?" She muttered quietly to herself. Looking up from the paper, David smirked.

"Somehow manage to always make the perfect blend of coffee and cream? I have no idea."

David smiled fondly in Snow's direction before focusing on his daughter once more, who was looking at him in amusement.

"Is there anything she doesn't do perfectly?" Emma remarked sarcastically, casting her eyes over to her mother in a playful glare. Glancing up from where she stood pouring pancake batter onto the griddle, Snow smirked and replied without missing a beat.

"Singing. I can't carry a tune to save my life."

Snow gave a theatrical sigh as she picked up a spatula from the counter.

"My only downfall."

This garnered a round of snickering from the entire family, as Emma let out a highly unladylike snort, and David chuckled into his coffee. Henry, meanwhile, had completely missed the joke, his entire focus being on the griddle in front of his grandmother, eyes glued in fascination to the simmering pools of batter lined symmetrically on the hot surface.

On noting Henry's utter lack of focus on the conversation, Emma gave his shoulder a nudge.

"Little excited for breakfast there, Henry?"

Smiling guiltily up at his mother, Henry nodded. Noting Emma's raised eyebrows and doubtful expression, Henry raised his voice defensively.

"Gran said I could have pancakes!"

"Oh, did she now?"

Emma directed her voice at Snow, who had put down her spatula, and begun to walk toward the breakfast table, laying her hands on Henry's shoulders and looking at Emma with a guilty smile.

Feeling slightly more confident with the show of support from Snow, Henry grimaced hopefully at his mother.

"Pleeeease, Mom? It's the weekend!"

Putting on his best begging face, Henry stuck his lip out unashamedly, silently pleading with Emma's stony expression.

Glancing once up to her mother's own hopeful expression, Emma sighed, smiling in defeat.

"Fine, fine. Pancakes it is. But we can't make this a habit, kid."

Perking up immediately, Henry jumped up from his seat, moving to plant a kiss on Emma's cheek.

"Thanks, Mom!"

Quickly turning her head to where Henry was now gathering a plate and a fork from the cupboard, Emma spoke up once again.

"Hey, and no more ganging up on me, you two."

Emma stared pointedly at Snow, who smiled impishly and began to flip golden brown pancakes onto a nearby plate.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Emma."

Emma narrowed her eyes, making a point of staring directly at Henry, who was now pouring copious amounts of syrup on his pancakes, and then directly back at Snow.

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Hearing a deep-throated chuckle next to her, Emma whipped her head around to find David smiling into his coffee.

"Don't you be laughing either, Gramps. Don't think I don't know about the frequent ice cream stops that are made on the way back from the stables, or the collection of wooden swords I found upstairs yesterday."

Raising his hands defensively, David opened his mouth in mock horror.

"ME? Spoil my only _grandson_? Never."

Eyes twinkling, David turned his head and winked at Henry, who smiled widely in return.

Opening her mouth to speak again, Emma was interrupted by a pair of hands setting down a steaming plate of pancakes in front of her, with a bottle of maple syrup and a stick of butter placed directly to each side.

Looking up in confusion, Emma saw Snow bustling back to the kitchen, unplugging the griddle, grabbing her own plate and David's, and coming to join her family at the table. Grabbing the butter and beginning to spread it on her own stack of pancakes, Snow looked at Emma pointedly.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Eat. While they're still hot."

Emma sat for a moment, utterly flabbergasted at how her parents had completely undermined her own parenting in favor of spoiling her son, and had effectively shut her up in the process.

She would almost be impressed if she weren't so stubborn.

Looking over to Henry and David, who she saw were already immersed in a conversation about Henry's new horse and how close he was to riding him, while overtly exchanging bits of egg for pancakes, Emma turned to her mother and began whispering fiercely.

"Snow, I appreciate all that you guys do, really, but I'm trying to be a parent here. I need to be able to do that without you and David constantly pushing it to the side in favor of giving in to Henry's every whim and desire."

Snow sighed, putting her fork down and reaching to clasp Emma's hand with her own.

"Oh Emma, you know that's never what David and I intended."

Squeezing her daughter's hand, Snow glanced in the boys' direction, smiling softly.

"I think we've both just been thinking about how much Henry deserves a break lately."

Turning to look at Emma again, Snow spoke with a pointed look at her daughter.

"How much you _both_ need a break."

Squeezing her hand once more before letting go, Snow once again grabbed ahold of her fork and cut into her first pancake.

"So, yes, your father and I do spoil him. Much in the way we wish we could have spoiled you."

Snow looked wistfully at Emma, who suddenly found her plate very interesting, choosing to look down rather than face the sudden love that radiated from her mother's eyes.

Clearing her throat, Snow continued.

"But, that being as it may, the point is, David and I would never intentionally undermine your parenting."

Smiling softly at her daughter, Snow put down her fork once again.

"The truth is, we are so proud of you, and of the amazing woman and mother that you are."

Emma smiled shyly at Snow, who beamed brightly at her.

"We just absolutely adore our grandson, and want to take advantage of every moment we have with him, particularly with how crazy of a life we all lead."

Both mother and daughter let out a snort at that, with Snow motioning for Emma to pick up her fork and begin eating. Digging into her plate of pancakes, Snow finally took a bite of her breakfast, savoring the sweet taste. Humming in satisfaction, Snow once more looked to her daughter, who hastily began to cut into her own food once she realized she had been staring. Smiling thoughtfully, Snow continued.

"You never know when you might have the opportunity to have this moment again. So, I say, _live it_. Take the time to spoil your son on special occasions, and show the people you love that you do so unconditionally."

Snow looked intently at her daughter and smiled, before turning from the table and hopping up nimbly, grabbing the spare plate of pancakes on the counter. Walking them over to David, she leaned down to press a quick kiss to his temple, and smiled at his lit up expression, looking at her daughter in fondness once more.

"Because there's no better time than the present."


End file.
